Women's Football Jones: I want Germany to be the yardstick

Women's Football

Jones: I want Germany to be the yardstick

(FIFA.com) 12 Dec 2016

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It is nothing new for sportspeople to retire at their peak, as demonstrated by Formula 1 driver Nico Rosberg recently after winning the world championship. By way of contrast, Silvia Neid announced she would be stepping down as Germany women's coach even before winning Olympic gold. And while Rosberg's team are still looking for a successor, Germany already had a replacement lined up: Steffi Jones.
The 111-time former Germany international described her first few months in charge as "very exciting" in an exclusive interview with FIFA.com. "I had no notion of what it was like to be on the touchline as coach. You see Joachim Low and Silvia Neid doing it, but you don't know what it actually feels like. That's why everything was very exciting, but also a lot of fun. I'm a person who thinks positively and I'm optimistic. I'd hoped to get off to a winning start and the fact it turned out that way, despite the absentees and number of players out injured, was a very good first step. All in all, it's been a good start."

Jones has so far recorded four wins and a draw at the helm of Germany, having previously gained experience in Neid's backroom staff for a year. "It was certainly important that I was able to observe training sessions and the players' matches and started filtering out which players I wanted to continue to work with," the erstwhile defender said of her experiences so far.

"I was able to start choosing my own squad and could see how the players react when things get tough. We had spells during the [Women's Olympic Football] tournament where things didn't always go well. You can see then that you've got a player who emerges as a leader, who motivates the team and who maybe I wasn't aware had it in them. Those experiences helped me choose my team's leadership committee."

The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup™ winner and three-time European champion had to make do without three key players from the off, after Melanie Behringer, Saskia Bartusiak and Annike Krahn announced their retirement. What kind of an impact did that have on the team? "When I was developing my playing philosophy before the Olympics, I thought about which role the more experienced players would have. You do wonder about whether to actively make a complete clean break. That decision was practically taken out of my hands after they stepped down."

Eager to blaze a trail
After the Olympics, Jones introduced her philosophy to the public and made her objectives clear: the 43-year-old wants to be a pioneer. "I'm often asked 'which team is your yardstick? Who do you measure yourselves against?' I always say that we want to be trailblazers. We want to be the team that others look at and say: 'they've got it right in terms of their structure, youth development and training. In the Bundesliga and the women's national team they play varied, attractive and well-organised football.'
We're not looking at the Americans or the French; they should want to measure themselves against us. My players should also have that self-confidence and know that they have nothing to fear because they're among the best in the world. That's my philosophy and that's how I try to strengthen my players."